DYNLL1 mis-splicing is associated with replicative genome instability in SF3B1 mutant cells

Genome instability is a hallmark of cancer that arises through a panoply of mechanisms driven by oncogene and tumour-suppressor gene mutations. Oncogenic mutations in the core splicing factor SF3B1 have been linked to genome instability. Since SF3B1 mutations alter the selection of thousands of 3 splice sites affecting genes across biological pathways, it is not entirely clear how they might drive genome instability. Here we confirm that while R-loop formation and associated replication stress may account for some of the SF3B1-mutant genome instability, a mechanism involving changes in gene expression also contributes. An SF3B1-H662Q mutant cell line mis-splices the 5UTR of the DNA repair regulator DYNLL1, leading to higher DYNLL1 protein levels, mis-regulation of DNA repair pathway choice and PARP inhibitor sensitivity. Reduction of DYNLL1 protein in these cells restores genome stability. Together these data highlight how SF3B1 mutations can alter cancer hallmarks through subtle changes to the transcriptome.